Why Classics?

Classics at Yale

The Department offers three majors: Classics (Latin and Greek, Latin only, or Greek only); Classical Civilization; and Ancient and Modern Greek. Each is a liberal arts major with enormous potential for the pursuit of interdisciplinary interests. Students are trained to develop powers of critical analysis in studying the important periods and major authors of Greek and Roman literature. The languages, art, history, philosophies, material cultures, religions, and societies of the ancient world are studied for their intrinsic value, their historical significance, and their power to illuminate problems confronting contemporary society. Students gain a sense of historical perspective on both the differences and the continuities between contemporary and ancient cultures.

We welcome all students curious about this fascinating world, regardless of whether they have studied Classics before. We support our majors at every stage of their undergraduate journey, from summer research funding to essay and translation prizes to museum internships to one-on-one senior thesis workshops and faculty advising. On the top floor of Phelps Hall is the department’s own Classics Library, an incredible resource available to the Yale community.

Over the past decade, Yale Classics majors have gone on to fulfilling careers as graduate students and then professors at top universities and colleges in the US and abroad; taken up prestigious Rhodes Scholarships; gained admission to top law and medical schools; embarked upon careers in consulting, finance, and the arts at the highest levels; changed lives as high school language teachers and mentors; become award-winning journalists, and much, much more. We are proud of our majors and our vibrant undergraduate Classics community, and we invite you to explore our department through coursework!

What can you do with a Classics degree?

An undergraduate degree in Classics from Yale is widely recognized to represent rigorous, challenging interdisciplinary training. Students who graduate with a major in Classics are equipped with top-notch written, linguistic, and analytical skills that can be applied in a variety of fields. They develop cross-cultural fluency through studying the histories, languages, and cultures of societies that differ radically from our own through historical and comparative perspectives. In addition, over the course of their degree work, Classics majors acquire a wide range of theoretical and methodological strategies which they bring to bear in their interpretation of the past. Perhaps most importantly, they develop an ability to discern connections between disparate types of evidence.

These skills are essential preparation for many different careers, including politics, business, research, teaching, journalism, computer science, theater studies, museum work, and more. A Classics major is also excellent preparation for graduate school both in the humanities—most often in Classics, history, comparative literature, philosophy, art history, archaeology, and religious studies—and for law school, religious vocational school, and medical school.